Paper cup



July 6, 1943. I w. E. AMBERG rumour Filed April 17, 1940 ,QINVENTOR WCZZZEFZ-1J77ZZJEIQ,

Patented July 6, 1943 UNITED STATES orricr.

2,323,288 PAPER our Application April 17, 1940, Serial No. 330,029

10 Claims.

This invention relates to a new and improved type of paper cup and more particularly a paper drinking cup and to a new and improved method for the manufacture thereof. The invention is especially concerned with the production of a paper cup which normally is a flat folded cup but which when subjected to a slight hand pressure will open and remain open. r

Paper cups as marketed today fall into several classes such as envelope cups, cone-shaped cups, flat bottom cups and wedge-shaped cups. These cups, with the exception of the envelope cups, have a normally open mouth and therefore, are readily filled with liquid. The envelope cups are normally collapsedand have to be pressed open by the hand of the user in order to be filled with a liquid. Furthermore, the envelope cups tend to return to their collapsed form when held in the hand and, therefore, are apt to spill their contents unless the user is very careful. The envelope cups, however, have one outstanding advantage over the other types of cups, namely, they occupy a relatively small amount of space and therefore, are relatively inexpensive to package and ship. Notwithstanding this advantage in favor of the envelope cups, the disadvantage of their normal tendency to collapse is so great that in many instances the other types of cups are preferred by the user.

The need for an envelope cup which would retain a predetermined shape when opened has long been recognized and several cups of this type have'been devised. The cupsof this type heretoiore proposed, however, have not come into commercial use for numerous reasons. In the first place, these cups are relatively dimcult to make because they involve numerous folds. In the second place they often require more paper than it is economically practical to use.- In the third place, and what is probably the most important reason for the failur of these cups to find a commercial market, the cups heretofore proposed do not open readily. If the user is forced to place his finger within the cup in order to open it the cup is not commercially satisfactory. The reason lies not only in possible contamination of the cup, but also in the fact that the failure of the cup to open properly may cause the user to crush it or otherwise damage it.

Moreover, the average user does not have the patience and sometimes not the mechanical skill to open a cup of this type if the cup does not open on the first attempt.

One of the objects of the present inventionis to provide a new and improved type of paper cup of the character described which is normally collapsed but will open readily to a pre-determined'form and will retain said form when filled with a liquid.

Stil1 a further object of this invention is to provide a new and improved cup of the character described which may be cut from a strip of paper with a minimum amount of waste. I

Another object of the invention is to provide a new and improved cup of the character described having certain new and improved features which assist in the opening ofthe cup.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear by reference to the following description in conjunction with the accompanying drawing, in which:

Figure 1 represents a strip of paper which may be taken from a roll and illustrates the manner in which the cup blanks are formed with the sides of the blank forming the edge of the strip;

Figure 2-is an enlarged inside view of a cup blank used to form paper cups in accordance with this invention;

Figure 3 is a side elevational view of a paper cup formed in accordance with this invention, said cup being in its flat or collapsed state;

Figure 4 is a view in perspective illustrating the appearance of the cup of Figure 3 when opened ready for use;

Figure 5 is an enlarged cross-section taken through the line 6-5 of Figure 3; Figure 6 is a cross-section taken through the line 6-6 of Figur Figure 7 is a cross-section taken through the line 8-1 of Figure 3;

Figure 8 is a cross-section taken looking upward through the line 8-8 of Figure 3;

Figure 9 is a cross-section taken looking upward through the line 9-9 of Figure 3.

Referring to Figure 1', it will be seen that the cups may be formed directly from a strip S. The blanks from which the cups are formed may be die-cut from the strip and then formed into a cup or the cup may be formed directly on the end of the strip so that in effect no blank is previously out. Thus, a cup isfirst formed on the .end of the strip from the area C indicated by the heavy lines in Figure 1. Thereafter thestrip is advanced and a second cup is formed from the area D indicated by the dotted lines. In either case the edges of the strip S form two straight side edges 2 and 4 of the cup area C.

When the cup is formed the edge 6, having a 1 as a drinking edge and does not tend to cut the lips of the user. The remainder of the mouth of the cup is formed from the arcs l2 and I4 which are of such radii that they coincide with each other when the cup is formed. As shown, according to the particular embodiment herein illustrated, the are I2 is somewhat longer than the arc l4. Furthermore, the center line M-M of the blank is of! center and does not coincide with the center line or the strip S. The shape or the blank is accordingly unsymmetrical.

As shown in Figure 2, the cup is made up with a number of fold lines which are illustrated by the dotted lines. These fold lines divide and form the boundaries for certain areas of the cup. Thus, th side wall area W is bounded at the top by line l6-l8, on the sides by lines l6-20, l8-22, and at the bottom fold lines 20-24,

24-26 and 22-26. When the cup is formed the areas W and W overlap each other and are secured together by adhesive G. The two areas W and W" when thus joined together form the other side wall of the cup. The area W" is bounded on one side by fold line l6-20 and fold line'20-28, on another side by fold line 28-30, on the third side by edge 4 and on the fourth side by edge l4. The area W' is bounded on one side by fold line I8-22 and fold line 22-32, on another side by iiold line 32-34, on the third side by edges 36 and 2 and on the fourth side by edge I 2.

The base of the cup is formed from a plurality of fold portions, some of which also open up to form a portion of the side walls oi the cup when the cupis opened and ready for use. These latter portions are the triangular areas Y and Z shown in Figure 4. The base itself, as shown in Figure 4, is the square or substantially square portion X.

Referring again to Figure 2, the triangular area Y of Figure 4 is made up of areas Y and Y", shown in Figure 2. The area Y is bounded by foldlines 20-24, 24-38 and 20-38, and the area Y" is bounded by fold lines 20-28, 20-38 and 28-38, as shown in Figure 2. The area Z of Figure 4 is made up of the two areas Z and Z", shown-in Figure 2. The area Z' is bounded by fold lines 22-26, 22-40 and 26-40 and the area Z" is bounded by fold lines 22-32, 22-40 and 32-40.

The area X which makes up the square base portion of the cup, as shown in Figure 4, is made up of the areas X1, X2, X1 and X4, shown in Figure 2. The areas X1 and X: are adapted to overlap the areas X3 and X4, respectively, when the cup is formed and the areas X2 and X4 are adhesively secured to the areas X1 and X: by means of the glue line G1 shown in Figure 2.

The area X1 is bounded by fold lines 26-40, 26-42, 40-44 and the edge 42-44. The area X2 is bounded by fold lines 32-40, 40-44, 32-46 and the edge 44-46.

On the other side of the blank the area X3 is bounded by fold lines 24-48, 24-38, 38-50 and the edge 48-50. The area X4 is bounded by fold lines 28-38, 28-52, 38-50 and the edge 50-52:

Referring again to Figure 41, it will b seen that the base X is overlapped by triangular fold portions A and B. As shown in Figure 2, the triarea As is bounded by fold lines 32-46, 32-56 and edge 46-56. The area A4 is bounded by fold lines 32-56, 32-34 and edge.3456.

When the cup is formed the areAa is overlapped by the area A4. The area A4 in turn is overlapped by the area A2 and the area A2 is overlapped by the area A1, as shown by the cross-section in Figure 5. The entire triangular fold portion A, made up of areas A1, A2, A; and A4 is arranged to overlap the area X2, which in turn overlaps the area X4.

The triangular fold portion B, shown in Figure 4 and made up of the areas B1, B2 and B3, shown in Figure 2, is adapted to overlap the base area X1, which in turn overlaps the base area X3, as

- shown by the cross-section in Figure 5.

In forming the cup from the blank illustrated in Figure '2, the wings W' and W" which form one of the side walls are brought upwardly assuming the blank is lying in the flat position, as shown in Figure 2, thereby forming creases along lines l8-22 and l6-20, which creases form side,

edges of the cup, as shown in Figure 3. These side edge creases extend in a generally outward direction with respect to the interior of the cup. A reverse crease extending inwardly is formed along the line 22-44 on one side and along. the line 20-50 on the other side of the cup. For convenience the creases extending in the general direction of I 8-22 will be referred to as outside creases, while the creases extending in the general direction of crease 22-44 will be referred to as inside creases. Outside creases are also formed along the lines 22-56 and 20-54. Likewise outside creases are formed along the lines 30-38, 24-38, 24-26, 26-32 and 32-34. Inside creases are also formed along the lines 24-48 and 26-42.

It will be observed that the creases 32-46, l8-44 and 26-42 are substantially parallel and oblique to the center line M-M. The same is true with respect to the creases 28-52, l6-50 and 24-48. The positions of the glue lines G and G1 are such that when the cup is folded along the creased lines indicated the various fold portions will be glued together and the bottom of the cup will be sealed in such a way as to be substantially liquid tight. This is made possible by the arrangement of the base fold portion and the overlapping arrangement of the triangular to the bottom of the base by applying an adhesive angular fold portion A is made up of areas A1,

, fold lines 28-52, 28-54 andedge 52-54. The

in a suitable area of the opposite side of the blank. The drinking edge or mouth of the cup which is formed along the fold line Iii-l8 (also crease i0) is held in position by adhesive area G2.

One of the features of this invention resides in the provision of a cup which will open readily and easily. A feature of the construction which contributes toward this end is to be found in the arrangement of the bottom folds so that the amount of material adjacent the center of the cup when it is in a flat or envelope cup shape is much greater than the amount of material adjacent the sides thereof. This is clearly illustrated by reference to Figure 9, which is a cross-section looking upward taken through line 9-9 of Figure 3. By inspection it will be seen that the thickness of material adjacent the center of the cup is approximately three times the thickness of the material adjacent the side. This difference in the thickness of the material at the center and at the side is also illustrated by comparing Figures 6 and 7 wherein Figure 6 asaaaea indicates the relative proportion of material at the center of the cup and Figure 7 the relative proportion of material adjacent one side. greater concentration of material at the center area is also illustrated by Figure5, which is a cross-section taken through the center, 'of the cup The are substantially no glue areas adjacent the side edges. Thus, by placing the adhesive or glue areas in the central folds the resiliency and weight of the glue further tend to increase the ease with which the cup will open. This arrangement is possible because the side walls of the cup are formed from the upper part of the blank and the base of the cup from the lower part of the blank. It would not be possible to accomplish this result, for example, if the base of the cup were placed in the central portion of the blank and if the cup were formed by a saddle fold or a central fold. Furthermore, in accordance A with the present invention the side walls of the cup are sealed by means of only a single glue line as contrasted with the use of a double glue line in many types of envelop cups heretofore manufactured. The use of a double glue lin has the disadvantage that it adds to the cost of manufacture. Additionally the presence of several glue lines in the sides of the cups increases the possibility of leakage.

It will be understood that the specific embodiment of the invention is given for the purpose of illustration only and that other variations and modifications may be made without departing from the invention.

Having thus described the invention, what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

1. A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to assume a pre-determined shape when opened by lateral pressure against the side edges thereof, said cup being formed from a flexible sheet material with the upper part of said flexible sheet material forming the side walls of the cup and the lower part forming the base of the cup, said base part being folded in such a manner as to permit opening of the cup to a pre-determined shape and with a substantially greater number of folds of said material adjacent the center of said base portion than at the side edges from which the cup is opened, and creased oblique-opening planes integral with said base and said side walls and forming oblique planes thereto when said cup f planes permitting said cup to open to a pre-deterwhen' said cup is opened by exerting pressure against said side wall creases.

3. A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to retain a pre-determined shape when opened, said cup being formed from a blank of flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming'side walls of. said cup bounded by longitudinally extending side wall creases, the lower part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines insaid base planes permitting said cup to open to a pre-determined shape when pressure is exerted against said side wall creases, and creased oblique-opening planes integral with said base planes and said side walls and forming oblique planes thereto when said cup is opened by exerting pressure against said side wall creases, the concentration of material toward the center of the base being substantially greater than at the sides from which the cup is opened. l

4. A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to retain a pre-determined shape whenopened by lateral pressure against side edges thereof, said cup being formed from a blank of flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming side walls of said cup bounded on opposite sides by longitudinally extending side wall creases, the lower part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines in said base portion permitting it to 'open to a flat bottom when pressure is exerted against said side wall creases, and creased oblique-opening planes integral with said flat-opening base portion and said side walls and forming oblique planes therewith when said cup is opened, said oblique planes being bounded on two sides by creases which also bound the side walls of the cup and on a third side by creases which define in part said flat-' opening base portion.

5 A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to retain a pre-determined shape when opened by lateral pressure against side edges thereof, said cup being formed from a blank of flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming side walls of said cup each of which is bounded by common longitudinally extending creases, the lower part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of adjacent planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines in said base part permitting said cup to open to I a pre-determined shape when pressure is exerted mined shape when pressure is exei ted'against said sidewall creases, and creased oblique-opening planes inte ral with said base planes and said side walls and forming oblique planes thereto against said side wall creases, creased obliqueopening planes integral with said base portion and with said'side Walls and forming oblique. planes therewith when said cup is opened, and creased overlap portions integral with said' side walls and with said base. 4

6. A drinking cup of the envelope'type adapted to retain a pre-determined shape when opened by lateral pressure against side edges thereof, said cup being formed from a blank of flexible'sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming side walls of said cup-each of which is bounded by common longitudinally extending creases, the lower part of said blank forming the base. of the cup and being divided into a plurality of adjacent planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsedcondition, fold lines in said base part permitting said-cup to open to a pre-determined shape when pressure is exerted against said side wall creases, creased obliqueopening planes integral with said base portion and with said side walls and forming oblique planes therewith when said cup is opened, and creased overlap portions integral with said side walls and with said base, the arrangement of said folds and creases being such as to form a several times greater bulk of material towardthe center 01' the base than at the sides from which the cup is opened.

7. A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to retain a pre-determined shape when opened by lateral pressure against side edges thereof, said cup being formed from ablank of flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming the side walls of said cup each bounded on opposite sides by a common longitudinally extending side wall crease, the lower part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of adjacent planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines in said base part permitting said cup to open to a pre-determined shape when pressure is exerted against said side wall creases, creased oblique-opening triangular planes integral with said base portion and with said side walls and forming oblique planes therewith when said cup is opened, and triangular overlap sealing portions integral with said side walls and said base and secured to said base in overlapping relationship.

ing oblique planes therewith when said cup is opened, said flat-opening base portion being deflned in part by creases bounding said oblique planes, in part by the edge or the blank and in part by creases bounding fold portions adapted to overlap said ,base portion, and said oblique' planes being bounded on two sides by creases which also bound the side walls oi the cup and on a third side by creases which define in part said flat-opening base portion.

9. A drinking cup of the character described formed from a blank oi flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming side walls of said cup each bounded by common longitudinally extending creases, the lower part of said blank forming the base portion of said cup, said base portion being made up of a plurality of areas on opposite sides of the center line of the cup defined at least in part by creases, two of said part by the edges of said base areas forming a sealing portion and another plurality of areas bounded in part by the base of the other side wall 8. A drinking cup of the character described 7 formed from a blank of flexible sheet material, the upper part of said blank forming side walls of said cup each bounded onopposite sides by a common longitudinally extending side wall crease. the lower part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines in said base portion permitting it to open to a substantially flat bottom when pressure is exerted against said sidewall creases, and creased oblique opening planes integral with said flat-opening base portion and with said side walls and formand in part by the opposite edges of the base area forming a second sealing portion, said sealing portions being adhesively secured to said cup.

'10. A drinking cup of the envelope type adapted to retain a pre-determinedshape when opened, said cup being formed from a blank of flexible sheet material, part of said blank forming side walls of said cup bounded by longitudinally extending side wall creases, part of said blank forming the base of the cup and being divided into a plurality of planes extending substantially parallel with respect to the side walls of the cup when said cup is in its normally collapsed condition, fold lines in said base planes permitting said cup to open to a pre-determined shape when pressure is exerted against said side wall creases, and creased oblique-opening planes integral withsaid base planes and said side walls and forming oblique planes thereto when said cup is opened by exerting pressure against said side wall creases.

WALTER E. AMBERG. 

